“Food isn’t merely an act to fill a hungry stomach,” says nutritionist Sana Agarwal, founder of Purple Cabbage What is conscious eating? The word explains what it is. When you know what you are eating, it is conscious eating. People these days eat unconsciously, say they eat while watching TV or eat whatever they find. They may not really know what’s on the plate, only to later realize they ate something they…

It was the nurturer in Hyderabad-based Reena George, founder of the research organization brhat, that led her to find a way to live consciously — from what she ate to what she chose to wipe the surfaces of the house What led you to live a sustainable lifestyle? It was one specific incident in 2009 — the birth of my daughter Sahithi. After she was born, I started looking out for safe products for her and in that quest I stumbled upon several articles that spoke about availability of chemicals…

Employed with the federal government of Australia, Sumita Sen took to cultivating vegetables to bring home a bit of Bengal, but discovered joy in the course of time —

55-year old Indrani Chakraborty finds fulfillment in vegetable cultivation. And also the relief that what she and her family consume are safe — Since when have you been growing your own vegetables? It’s been ten years. I started out with flowers and then moved on to cultivating vegetables. It was purely out of curiosity. I used to see my father-in-law grow vegetables effortlessly, without using fertilizers or any other modern methods. To…

Legendary music composer Beethoven counted sixty beans of coffee as his morning ritual while Twitter founder Jack Dorsey showers with ice cold water to shock the system to come alive. Morning routines seem to help set the momentum of the day. Hyderabad-based yoga instructor and life coach Hariprasad Varma talks briefly about his morning routine and what happens when he fails to follow What does your morning routine comprise?

While most believe wealth opens doors, interestingly for Sonali Paul, the lack of it worked the magic. A communications professional, Sonali crafts almost all her body care essentials, ranging from hair oil that helps tick her brain to a balm that calms her on days filled with anxiety Sonali, what prompted you to craft your own body care essentials at home? As an adult, I was exposed to various international skincare brands. However, there came a phase when I realized I could no longer splurge the amount of money I did on buying the brands I used to…

“There are substitutes to vegan products,” says Sharada Kuragayala, who climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest single standing mountain in the world, to promote the goodness of going vegan Why did you turn vegan? I grew up with animals at home. Say tortoise, cows, cats, pigeons, etc. But that was that. I liked them, as well liked eating them in the form of non-vegetarian food. It was in 2015 when I was in the US, people there introduced me…

Yana Danilova found love in India, and a lot of garbage soon after. In the interview below, she speaks of the struggles of running a garbage management company — Yana, you run a garbage management firm — Krich Cleaning. You have been in the business for the last two years. If Wikipedia is to be believed, India generates 62 million tonnes of waste every year, of which 43 million tonnes is collected. Of this 43, 31 million tonnes…

It’s funny as well as a thing of shame that a foreigner on the go has to take up the mantle of cleaning up an Indian city. Anastasia was in India on a spiritual quest, but when found locked in the country during the pandemic, she chose to fill her days with cleaning up the plastic-littered spaces in and around the otherwise serene Kasol in Himachal Pradesh — What brought you to India? I was traveling across some Asian countries and then I bought a ticket to India as my spiritual guru lives here. I was to return to Russia in 2020, but then the lockdown started and I got held up. …